ABSOLUTESGrammar Workshop

WHAT ARE ABSOLUTES?

Absolutes combine a noun with an ing or ed participle (verb) to modify the main clause of a

sentence.

WHERE CAN THEY APPEAR?

Absolutes can precede, interrupt, or follow the main clause of a sentence.

HOW DO THEY APPEAR?

Absolutes can appear as a

Noun + Participle . . .

EXAMPLE 1

“Claws digging, feet kicking, the cat climbed up the tree” (Noden, 6).

* Here, the two absolutes precede the main clause.

HOW ELSE DO THEY APPEAR?

Absolutes can also modify the main clause as an absolute phrase. . .

EXAMPLE 2

“Little bear, his belly round with the meal of scraps he had gulped, sprawled on the floor and slept, paws twitching as he dreamed” (Weaver, 43).

*The first absolute phrase interrupts the main clause, while the second follows the main clause.

BORN BAD FROM SAUNDRA CISNEROS’ HOUSE ON MANGO STREET

“But I knew her sick from the disease that would not go, her legs bunched under the yellow sheets , the bones gone limp as worms…”

“The day we played the game, we didn’t know she was going to die. We pretended with our heads thrown back, our arms limp and useless, dangling like the dead...” (Cisneros, 60-61).

ACTIVITY:Now let’s get some practice!

Directions:

The following slide has four images.

For each image think up a complete sentence using absolutes to modify the main clause!

You may write these on your notes sheet from this lesson.

1 2

3 4